The Learning Tree Overcoming Learning Disabilities from the Ground Up

by Greenspan, Stanley I.; Greenspan, Nancy Thorndike

• ISBN13: 9780738212333
• ISBN10: 0738212334
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-08-03
• Publisher: Balance

Summary

The Learning Treeoffers a new understanding of learning problems. Rather than looking just at symptoms, this new approach describes how to find the missing developmental steps that cause these symptoms. The best solution to the problem comes from knowing what essential skills to strengthen.Using the metaphor of a tree, Dr. Stanley Greenspan explains that the roots represent how children take in the world through what they hear, see, smell, and touch. The trunk represents thinking skills through which children grow both academically and socially. From these, the branches--children's basic abilities to read, write, do math, and organize their work--develop.Both parents and early learning professionals will especially welcome the sections on finding and solving learning problems early. With Dr. Greenspan's characteristic wise optimism, this book "raises the ceiling" for all children who learn differently or with difficulty.

Author Biography

Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., author of the widely used and praised books The Challenging Child and (with Serena Wieder, Ph.D.) Engaging Autism, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School and lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Learning Tree	p. xi
The Learning Tree Approach
Sally's Story	p. 3
IQ Testing: Uses and Misuses	p. 14
The Trunk
Play and Learning: Floortime	p. 19
Building Basic Thinking	p. 29
Building Advanced Thinking	p. 57
Using All the Thinking Levels: The Sidwell Friends Buddy Project	p. 76
The Roots
Getting to the Roots: Avoiding Labels	p. 81
Deciphering Sounds	p. 90
Making Sense of What We Hear	p. 107
Organizing Actions: Motor Planning and Sequencing	p. 123
Organizing Thoughts	p. 141
Regulating Sensation	p. 153
Making Sense of What We see	p. 166
Integrating All the Roots: The Sidwell Friends Nutrition Project	p. 183
Helping Sally: Strengthening the Trunk and the Roots	p. 188
The Branches
The Learning Tree in Action: The Sidwell Friends Dinosaur Project	p. 203
Reading Comprehension	p. 207
Expressing Ideas in Writing and Speaking	p. 219
Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning	p. 234
Organizational Skills	p. 243
The Learning Tree in Conclusion: The Sidwell Friends Native Americans and Colonists Project	p. 253
Further Reading	p. 259
Index	p. 261
About the Authors	p. 275
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